US court rules seasonal farmworker pay cuts illegal — Fortune
A US federal court has found unlawful a rule of President Donald Trump’s administration that lowered the minimum pay for foreign seasonal agricultural workers. The US Department of Labor has until December 30 to develop a new wage calculation formula for nearly 400,000 seasonal jobs under the H-2A visa program. If the agency fails to meet the deadline, rates will automatically return to the level set under President Joe Biden’s administration, Fortune reports.
Court ruling and deadline for the agency
Eastern District of California Judge Kirk Sherriff on August 26 upheld a lawsuit filed by the United Farm Workers union, the UFW Foundation and 18 workers. He concluded that the Department of Labor set pay for most H-2A program participants substantially below the relevant market level without properly assessing its duty to protect US workers. The judge also found that the agency improperly failed to conduct a public comment procedure for the rule.
Sherriff did not immediately vacate the rule, as this could have left the program without established rates. However, in a ruling dated October 2, he ordered that the current rule would cease to be in force on December 30 regardless of whether a replacement is ready by then. The Department of Labor must report to the court on the progress of its work every three weeks.
How the rates changed
Before the rules were changed, the minimum pay for H-2A workers was determined by the average wage of agricultural workers in the relevant state or region, using the US Department of Agriculture’s Farm Labor Survey. This survey was discontinued in August 2025, and on October 2 of that year the Department of Labor introduced a temporary final rule with a different methodology.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
The new system divided H-2A jobs into two categories. For entry-level positions, which the agency estimated accounted for 92% of vacancies, pay was set at approximately the 17th percentile. Rates were also reduced to account for housing that employers are required to provide to program participants.
In California, the minimum hourly rate for H-2A workers fell from $19.97 to $16.90, the state minimum wage level. The Department of Labor itself estimated that the new formula would redistribute about $2.46 billion annually from workers to employers.
Possible compensation for workers
Following the court ruling, the Department of Labor on September 2 warned employers that they may be required to pay workers the difference between the current and new rates after an updated formula is introduced. The issue of compensation and its amount will be decided after new rates are established. UFW said it would seek retroactive application of the higher pay.
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has already signed Assembly Bill 2646, which from January 1 sets a minimum hourly wage of $19.75 for H-2A workers and local workers employed alongside them. The number of certified H-2A positions in the first half of fiscal year 2026 was nearly 17% higher than in the corresponding period of the previous year.
